Author archives: Christopher Priebe

Cultivating Cold Brew

So, you now have your hands on a bag of Cultivate Coffee’s Kentucky Joe bourbon roast. Congrats! This is the first blend that we cultivated; a mix of Mexican Veracruz and Peruvian Chanchamayo coffee, presoaked in a delicious cocktail of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey* and brown sugar simple syrup before being roasted.
Dang. Hold on… I need to go grab me a cup before I type anymore.
*Alcohol content burned out during roast so you will not get tipsy*

Okay, I’m back. Now, you’re wanting to know how you can turn that bag of roasted coffee into something drinkable, right? While you can certainly brew it up any way you’d like, we cultivated this particular roast to serve best as cold brew. Oh, you’ve never made cold brew coffee before? Fret not! We have instructions.

CONCENTRATE
(You may want it hot, you may want it cold)

  1. Grind coffee coarsely (think kosher sea salt). This helps with filtration and for making a smoother cup.
  2. Combine ground coffee with filtered or bottled spring water in a container.
    1. Wait, isn’t water water? Ingredients matter in any recipe. You’ve purchased specialty grade, freshly roasted coffee, and now you want to pour dirty water over it? Of course not! If you live in a city with great tap water, you may be okay, but it’s safe to go with filtered or bottled water. We typically use Crystal Geyser spring water.
    2. Wait, what kind of container? You can use a toddy or a french press for easy filtering later, but if you don’t have those, pour coffee into a nut milk bag or cheesecloth and pour the water over the grounds.
    3. Wait, how much coffee? How much water? For concentrate, we use a 70% water volume to coffee weight ratio. So if you have 16oz coffee, use about 11 cups water.
  3. Wait 24-36 hours.
  4. Filter. If you are using a french press, just decant (fancy word for press down the thingy). For the toddy, follow the brands instructions for filtering. If using a bag or cheese cloth, lift bag out of container and place into a sieve over the container until all water drips out. You may need to then run all liquid through a sieve if the bag let any sediment out.
  5. Refrigerate/Serve. Keep in fridge until you’re ready to drink. Then, combine concentrate with either hot or cold water, depending on how you want your coffee. We recommend 2:1 water to concentrate, but you’ll want to find a mix that fits your preference.
  6. Share with a friend!

READY TO DRINK
(You know you’re gonna drink it cold & don’t want to mess with concentrates)

  1. Grind coffee coarsely.
  2. Combine ground coffee with filtered or bottled spring water in a container.
    1. Wait, how much coffee? How much water? For ready to drink, we use a 150% water volume to coffee weight ratio. So if you have 16oz coffee, use about 24 cups water.
  3. Wait 24-36 hours.
  4. Filter. Follow same instructions as with concentrate.
  5. Refrigerate/Serve. Keep in fridge until you’re ready to drink. When you are…
  6. Share with a friend!